TAD 2012 Review: Resolution

There is an eeriness that permeates throughout Resolution, a strange, hybrid horror of an indie film where you are never quite sure what is happening, and are even less sure of what is going to happen next.

It begins with loyal friend Michael visiting his drug-addicted buddy Chris at his makeshift home in an effort to help to try and clean up. Upon approaching his house (which may or may not actually be his), Chris sits drunken and or high, shooting off a gun at random things, swearing to no end, and generally being creepy.

Earning his trust momentarily, Michael promptly handcuffs Chris to a pipe with the intention of simply keeping him from drinking and doping himself to death, or killing himself straight out. Over the next few days, the pair confront one another, a series of strange neighbors, and some unseen forces surrounding the house, which may or may not be situated on an Indian reservation.

It is at times hard to tell what, if anything, is actually going on in this low budget indie flick, but it is certainly uncomfortable. Chris, played by Vinny Curran with a great black beard and an American flag hat, is paranoid, delusional, ranting and raving, and just not that much fun to be around. So he makes things highly awkward, a little scary, and often funny.

Things happen to Michael while he wanders around the wilderness that surrounds Chris’s tiny, barren abode, but some of the most fascinating scenes are simply when the friends talking, whether or not Chris is acting like a lunatic. He is the one with the problem, but the way the movie is set up, you can ever be sure about either of them, or anyone that crosses their paths—or the filmmakers, for that matter.

It is an earnest effort of an unnerving horror, creating an unpredictable world that defies a specific genre. While the journey is bumpy, bizarre, and maybe too long, you have to last through to the ending, the resolution, whatever it is.